Exotic Ingredients in Haitian Cuisine by: William R.

27062008

Have you ever attempted to cook something that you tried at someone’s house or at a restaurant? Have you ever wondered why your cooking never taste like your grandma’s cooking? Have you ever tried to make Haitian food?

Haitian cuisines offer an interesting mix of flavors. The food is pretty exotic and nutritious. A friend of mine is Haitian, and he mentioned that in his family, there is one ingredient/spice that his family uses in almost every dish. That spice is called “grandma’s spice”. In creole it is called epice. The spice is a blend of green onions, parsley, garlic, red and green pepper, maggi seasoning, vinegar and lime juice. The spice looks like a paste. Sometimes to make the seasoning spicy she would blend in a pepper to kick it up a few notches. The spice is used to make dishes such as du rit a pois(rice and beans), many meats such as kabrit (goat), griot (fried pork), chicken, turkey, sauce, bouillon (soup), fish lobster, shrimp, gumbo and legume.

I loved everything that I tried at my friend’s house with “Grandma’s Spice”! I will definitely try to make the spice at home, but I am not too sure about how close it will be to Grandma’s Spice…The original.